Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Mango Mousse Cake with Toasted Almonds

I finally learned the proper way to perfect a Mango Mousse Cake after my lesson with Richard Goh. I'm glad that this cake was so fun to make and this is especially so after my 2 week hiatus from baking! This cake still has room for improvements since I'm still short of my cake ring.. but it's here in Singapore.. waiting to be delivered to my place! (:

Nevertheless, this cake took me 3 hours to bake and prepare.

I just love baking layered cakes!

This recipe is adapted from Richard Goh's Mango Mousse Cake.

Mango Mousse Cake with Toasted Almonds Recipe

Ingredients:

SPONGE CAKE

4 eggs (60g each)

100g sugar

100g plain flour, sifted

100g melted butter

MANGO MOUSSE

3 tbsp water

20g gelatin

(Bake King is 'weaker' and so I used more.. If it's better brands, can use lesser, like 12g)

100 - 250g Mango puree

(I like mangoes so I used 250g..)

250g whipped cream

JELLY TOPPING

400ml water

38g gelatin (Bake King)

80g sugar

3 mangoes

(I used Thai Mangoes)

40g silvered almonds or 40g toasted diced almond (ready-to-use)

Steps:

I've only got silvered almond so I diced them and toasted them.

Set them in row..

Dice them!

I diced 80g to bake and store (:

SPONGE CAKE

Cake station! Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

The butter.. using my salted Liv butter which I bought plenty of in the recent promotion! (:

Sieve the flour!

100g of plain flour!

Melt the butter in the microwave oven for about 1 min. It doesn't have to be fully melted. 60-70% melted's good enough cos when you stir it, the rest of the butter will melt. (:

The sugar.

Add 4 eggs to the sugar.

Whisk on high!

Whisk it till STIFF PEAKS form! This took me like 7 - 10 mins on my Philips Hand-Held mixer.. If your hand-held mixer's over heated, let it cool down a lil' before continuing. I believe that larger mixers like KitchenAid and Kenwood have no issues with this.. Geesh.. me want one KitchenAid!

This is still too 'soupy'.

This is much stiffer and better!

The egg and sugar mixture.

Next, using your bare master hand, FOLD in the flour and melted butter..

Add in 1/3 of the flour and use your hand to fold it in one direction (from top to bottom).

Add in 1/2 of the butter and fold in.

Add in 1/3 of butter and fold in.

Add in remaining 1/2 of butter and fold in.

Add in the rest of the flour and fold in.

Some people prefer using a spatula, some a whisk (not recommended though I use this for my choco cakes) but since my instructor recommended hand-folding, I gave it a try (: Try to fold the components in gently as the egg are prone to deflating! Ensure that mixture is well folded with no lumps or butter stuck to the bottom of the mixing bowl (very common with spatula folding in).

All folded in! (:

Grease and line a 9" pan.

Pour the batter in. DO NOT scoop and scrap the last parts of the batter left in the mixing bowl into the pan as that's the greasiest and flour-ful part of batter that's usually not well mixed. It'll make the middle of your cake much oilier and possible flour-ier. "Drop" the cake tin on the table from a height of 5cm to 'hit' all the air bubbles out from the cake. Bake for 30 minutes or till cooked. Test the middle of the cake with a toothpick and if it comes out clean, it's ready! (:

Slice it and arrange it based on the circumference of the cake to check if you've got enough mangoes!

And since I've got soooo much mango left, I stacked 2-3 layers! XD

The cake is ready! Allow cake to cool!

Some 'remaining' mango that made up the mango puree.

Baking more than enough almonds.. Only 40g is needed for this recipe so you can choose to just prepare and bake 40g but of course, I baked more to keep (: After cake has been baked, pop these diced almonds into the oven to bake for 10 minutes or till' brown (:

Blend the mangoes! No water or no sugar needed!

Blended! (:

I had extra mangoes left over so I diced them up! 3 mangoes is actually a lot! But well, it's better to have more mangoes than insufficient mangoes!

Dissolve the gelatin in water for the mango mousse. Bring to boil and allow all gelatin powder to dissolve. This gelatin mixture helps firm up the mousse in the cake (: Allow mixture to cool.

Remove baking paper from cake and allow to cool.

As I didn't have a 9" cake ring just as yet, I used my 7" spring form pan as a cake ring.. as such, I trimmed the sides of the cake and so my cake was smaller. Please invest in a cake ring for layered cakes! Makes your life soooooo much easier! I can't wait for my expandable cake ring to arrive! Meanwhile, follow the rest of the recipe using a 9" cake ring.

The cake ready to be layered!

Slice the cake into 3 layers. You may do so freehand or you may use a cake leveler. (: This is my base layer.

Place base layer in the cake ring.

Whisk the whipping cream! If time and space permits, chill your mixing bowl (best to use metal bowls) and mixing whisks in the freezer for 15 mins to allow the whipping cream to 'rise' as much as it can. Or, just make sure that you kitchen is cool and that your whipping cream was kept real cool in the fridge (:

Add the mango puree and gelatin mixture into the mango mousse and mix well. Chill it for 5 mins before use! (:

My work station! (:

Add some mango mousse onto the base layer of cake! I added 3 spatula dollops of mango mousse! Add 1/2 of the mango cubes on top of it and add 1/2 more dollops of mango mousse. I forgot this step and excitedly added the middle layer of cake! XD You can use an angled spatula or even a flat spatula. I'm using the MEGA spatula I bought from Richard Goh! (:

Add the middle layer of cake.

Add more mango mousse and mango cubes! This is so pretty! (:

Top off with more mango mousse before adding the final layer of cake.

Final layer!

Add the remaining mango mousse on top of the cake and spread..

Smooth out the mango mousse. Ensure that there are no gaps at the sides to prevent the jelly from flowing down later. Freeze the cake for 30 mins to let it set.

JELLY TOPPING

Boil the water, sugar and gelatin for the jelly topping till all's dissolved. The Bake King's gelatin's of poor quality and I shall not use theirs anymore after my current supply has run out!

Allow mixture to boil.

Sieve the mixture to remove any undissolved gelatin. Allow gelatin mixture to cool.

The mango mousse that has been set! I used the back of my parring knife to run along the sides of the cake ring to 'free' the cake. As the sides were not tall enough, I pulled the tin higher up to accommodate the mangoes and jellies. Once again, smooth the sides to ensure that there are no gaps between the top of the cake and the cake ring..

Pull it higher! XD

Arrange the mangoes! Freeze the cake for 5 mins to allow the cold mango to help the jelly chill faster.

My toasted almonds!

Carved some laffa lime roses again!

When the gelatin has cooled, slowly pour it onto the mangoes.

Using your fingers, pop any air bubbles that may surface. Place cake in chiller and allow it to set for 30 mins to an hour.

The jelly has set! It should be firm when touched.

The "naked" cake!

Using the toasted almonds, sprinkle it on the sides of the cake. The mango mousse will help the toasted almond 'stick' to the sides.

This cake was a success as compared to my previous mango mousse!

Loving how pretty the layers look! If only I had remembered to add mango cubes on top of the base layer!

Serve the cake!

I had so much fun baking this cake and indeed, the more I practice baking layered cakes, the easier it gets. (:

Have fun baking this cake just as I did! And since this cake is so light to eat! I guess this recipe is here to stay!

I'd love to see the bakes or stuff you've cooked using the blog's recipe! Do share photos of stuff you've baked or cooked using the blog's recipe with me either via FB message to http://facebook.com/limcynthia OR http://facebook.com/thebakingbiatch OR via email at cynthia.lim.hl@gmail.com! I look forward to hearing from you! (:

2 comments:

Hi ! I want to ask if i am making a Mango Mousse Cake,i must add 3tbsp of water to 20g of gelatin? Because i went to search and found many and different amount of water required to add to the gelatin! Pls reply thanks !:)